Clothespin



April 27, 1937. H. R. F. SfENDER CLOTHESPIN Filed July 25, 1936 v INVENTOR. HERMANN RF TENDEE ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNITED sTArss PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

point.

An object of the invention is to provide a clothes pin having a clothes gripping jaw at one end thereof and a line gripping recess at the opposite end thereof, thus differentiating from the conventional clothes pin by means of which the clothes are frictionally clamped directly upon the line on which the clothes are to be supported.

Other objects and advantages are to provide a clothes pin that will be superior in point of simplicity, inexpensiveness of construction, positiveness of operation, and facility and convenience in use and general efficiency.

In this specification and the annexed drawing, the invention is illustrated in the form considered to be the best, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such form, because it may be embodied in other forms; and it is also to be understood that in and by the claim following the description, it is desired to cover the invention in whatsoever form it may be embodied.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the clothes pin constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the same in the open position, and with the jaw section partly broken away to show the interior construction thereof.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the clothes gripping jaw and the resilient arm for actuating said jaw on the other element of the clothes pin.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the clothes pin illustrating the same in operative position on a clothes line.

The conventional clothes pin clamps the clothes in direct contact with the line on which the said which is connected to the clothes supporting line at a point remote from which the clothes are carried by the pin. In detail the construction illustrated in the drawing, comprises a clothes pin formed of an elongated member I, preferably formed of wood, and having a recess 2 formed on one face thereof and adjacent an end thereof within which the supporting line 3 is adapted to be received. The opposite end of the pin is provided with a recess or corrugation 4 into and against which the clothes to be carried by the pin are adapted to be received. At or about the middle of the element I, I have provided a shoulder 5 facing the clothes receiving recess 4, said shoulder projecting out a substantial distance from the face of the element I, across which the said clothes receiving recess 4 is provided.

Immediately behind the face of the shoulder 5 I have provided a hole 6 which extends transversely through the element I, and in said hole I have arranged the oppositely coiled portions '|--'l of a resilient member 8. The resilient miember 8 has the end termini 99 thereof extended out from the face of the shoulder 5 and said termini are embedded within a clothes gripping jaw Ill which is disposed in complementary relation to the clothes receiving recess on the face of the member I. The mediate or remaining portion l l of the element 8 interconnects the opposite outer ends of the coils 1'l, and the length thereof is greater than the distance between the hole 6 and the end of the member I adjacent which the line receiving recess 2 is located. Likewise the two portions constituting a portion of the mediate part i l of the element 8 are spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the member I. The member II is formed of springy, resilient material of a tension sufiicient to firmly confine the line 3 in the recess 2.

The act of using my clothes pin would follow substantially the following process, to Wit: The clothes to be carried by the pin would be placed between the jaw Ill and the clothes receiving recess The operator would then place the end of the resilient element 8 against the clothes line 3, substantially as indicated in Fig. 1, and said element swung back over the top of the clothes pin while keeping it in constant contact with the line 3 until the clothes line 3 would assume the dotted position indicated in Fig. 4:, at which time the entire pin assembly would be elevated to squeeze the said clothes line between the element 8 and the member I, and allowing said clothes line to snap into the recess 2 and assume the full line position shown in Fig. 4. The tension of the member 8 when in the position shown in Fig. 4, acting upon the clothes line 3, is suflicient to hold said clothes line against disconnection from the line. In the process of moving the resilient end of the element 8 from the position shown in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Fig. 4, it will be observed that the termini 99 of the element 8 causes the jaw l 0 to be swung toward the clothes receiving recess 4 and to clamp clothes therebetween with a pressure in exact ratio to the tension exerted by the elongated arm portion ll of the element 8.

The clothes pin would be released from the clothes line by spreading the elongated portion I l of the element 8 away from the face of the member l sufiiciently to allow the line 3 to clear out of the recess 2, after which the spring tension of said element would swing it into the open posi tion indicated in Fig. l.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A clothes pin including an elongated member having a line receiving recess at one end thereof and a clothes receiving recess at the other end thereof, and a shoulder on the face of said member adjacent the clothes receiving recess; a wire element having a pair of matching coils formed adjacent opposite ends thereof, said coils being rotatably confined adjacent the face of said shoulder, the portion of said element connecting said coils consisting of connecting legs adapted to swing over an end of said elongated member to hold a clothes lines in the line receiving recess, and the termini of said 'wire element extending out from the face of said shoulder; and a clothes gripping jaw mounted on said termini in complementary relation to said clothes receiving recess to confine clothes therebetween when actuated by said wire element.

HERMANN R. F. STEN'DER. 

